Teen apologises for smashing church window

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A teenager has apologised after admitting to throwing a bottle containing stones at Hathersage Methodist Church causing a window to smash.

Recent intelligence from the community led to a 16-year-old youth being identified and admitting to the crime before the New Year.

The incident took place in September 2013 however the crime was closed after all lines of enquiries were negative.

The incident was resolved by means of restorative justice, when the victim decided they were happy to accept a full apology from the teenager.

PC Anthony Boswell from the Hathersage Safer Neighbourhood Team said: “It took a while to track the suspect down and we eventually caught up with him.

“We are always happy to use restorative justice where appropriate, but the final decision always lies with the victim.

“The teenager has been spoken to about his behaviour and has written a letter of apology for the damage that has been caused to the church.

“We do act on intelligence provided by the public and it is down to information from the community that we were able to get justice for this crime.”

Restorative justice was brought in by police in April 2009 to help deal swiftly with minor crimes and reduce bureaucracy.

Under the scheme, crimes are dealt with in accordance with the victims’ wishes without the case going through the court process. The crime is recorded as usual but dealt with in a more proportionate way.

To find out more about restorative justice visit the website www.restorativejustice.org.uk or contact your local Safer Neighbourhood policing team by calling 101, the non-emergency number for Derbyshire police.